Iran has struck a historic agreement with the U.S.

and five other world powers, accepting strict

constraints on its nuclear programme for the first time in a decade in exchange for partial relief
from sanctions. The deal, signed at 4.30 a.m. on Nov 24,Sunday, marks arguably the most
significant foreign policy achievement of Barack Obamas presidency, amounting to the most
significant agreement between Washington and Tehran since the 1979 Iranian revolution. The
move is intended as the first step in a six-month process aimed at a permanent resolution to the
decade-old global impasse over Irans nuclear programme, and heading off the threat of a new
war in West Asia. While todays announcement is just a first step, it achieves a great deal,
President Obama said in an address from the White House. For the first time in nearly a decade,
we have halted the progress of the Iranian nuclear programme, and key parts of the programme
will be rolled back.
The Geneva deal releases just over $4 billion in Iranian oil sales revenue from frozen accounts,
and suspends restrictions on the countrys trade in gold, petrochemicals, car and plane parts.
In return, Iran undertakes to restrict its nuclear activities. Over the next six months it has agreed
to:
stop enriching uranium above 5 per cent, reactor-grade, and dilute its stock of 20 per centenriched uranium or convert it to oxide, which makes it harder to enrich further. The mediumenriched uranium, in its hexafluoride gas form, is relatively easy to turn into weapons-grade
material, so it is a major proliferation concern.
not to increase its stockpile of low-enrichment uranium.
freeze its enrichment capacity by not installing any more centrifuges, leaving more than half of
its existing 16,000 centrifuges inoperable.
not to fuel or to commission the heavy-water reactor it is building in Arak or build a
reprocessing plant that could produce plutonium from the spent fuel.
accept more intrusive nuclear inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency,
including daily visits to some facilities